


Birthdays

by Mattecat



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 16:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20177383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattecat/pseuds/Mattecat
Summary: Bow and the peoples' birthdays he celebrates.





	Birthdays

**Author's Note:**

> OK, I'm really out of it right now so idk how well I can do this author's note, but here's a piece I wrote for the bow appreciation zine, and it's good. thanks for reading

1.

It happened too fast to react; one moment, Bow was walking to get breakfast, and the next moment, Glimmer had grabbed his arm and teleported him away. "Bow!" she hissed. "Help! I need a gift for Mermista!"

Once he regained his senses, Bow sighed. "Did you forget her birthday again?"

"Whoa." Both Bow and Glimmer snapped their heads up to stare at Adora, who was lying on her bed and reading a book. "You're in my room. Glimmer, we've talked about this."

"Sorry!" Glimmer said. "I wasn't thinking."

Adora frowned and stood up. "Why are you getting a gift for Mermista?" she asked.

Glimmer and Bow shared a look of disbelief. "Adora," Bow said in horror, "do you not know what a birthday is?"

"It's the day you were born." Adora crossed her arms. "The Horde had to keep track of when people get older. How else would we? 

"But did you get gifts and stuff?" Glimmer asked. "Was it a celebration, or just a way to keep track?"

"I mean, once you turned thirteen you were allowed to leave the dorms without written permission, that's…" Adora hesitated, seeing the looks Bow and Glimmer were giving her. "…kinda like a gift? No, we didn't celebrate birthdays."

Glimmer nodded. "Is that why you didn't get my mom anything for her birthday?" she said. "I mean, she didn't really expect it, but…"

"Queen Angella had a birthday?" Adora's face went pale. "And I was supposed to get her a gift?"

"No no no, it's okay!" Bow said quickly. "Like Glimmer said, she didn't really expect a gift. It can get weird when you've only known someone for a few months. Sometimes? Don't worry, Adora, it's fine."

Adora took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright."

"So!" Glimmer turned back to Bow. "Now that Adora knows what a birthday is, can we focus on the real issue? What do I get Mermista for her birthday?!"

Bow frowned and put a hand to his chin. "I'd say… well, she does like the ocean, but you know she'll have tons of seashells and stuff like that, so maybe get her something she can't just find in the ocean. Oh, how about a music box? Don't know what song, though, you'll have to think of that by yourself."

Glimmer grinned and hugged him. "That's good enough – I had no ideas! Thanks, Bow!"

"Huh," Adora said. "Bow, are you a birthday expert or something?"

Bow laughed. "You could say that! I just like getting people stuff. And I have a list of everyone's birthdays so I can keep track. Oh! Adora! When's your birthday?"

"Uh… January nineteenth?"

Bow and Glimmer shared a grin. "Great!" Bow said. "I'll remember that."

2.

"Hey, Bow?" Adora called from across the field. "Could you come over here?"

Bow looked over from where he knelt on the ground, putting away his archery equipment. "Uh, sure?"

Once he got closer to Adora, he could tell she was nervous. "You're… good with birthdays, right?" she asked, twisting her hands together and averting her gaze.

Bow blinked. "Is this about Glimmer's birthday? Her party isn't for another week."

Adora took a deep breath. "I don't know what to get her," she said. "I know what she likes, but I don't know what to get. What do people usually get for birthdays?"

Bow knew better than to tease Adora about not knowing these things. "I mean, there isn't really a specific gift you're supposed to get. Think of it like a normal present – just get her something you think she'll like!"

Adora didn't look any more confident. Less so, even. "What if I mess up?" she said. "If I get her something she doesn't like…"

"How about we brainstorm together? We'll both say our ideas, and then you can pick whichever one is best."

"That'd be great." Adora smiled. "Thanks, Bow."

When the day of Glimmer's party arrived, Adora presented her with a gift that, on Bow's insistence, she had wrapped herself. Glimmer giggled at the messy packaging before tearing off the paper.

"Oh!" Glimmer held up the plush dog and gave it an experimental squeeze. "It's so soft! Did you make this, Adora?"

"No," said Adora. "I tried, but… I got this from town."

"It's really cute!" Glimmer stood up and hugged her. "Thank you, this is a great present!"

From behind Glimmer, Bow gave Adora a thumbs up. They wouldn't mention her failed attempts to make her own plush.

3.

"It doesn't have to be big," Adora said, eyeing the balloons Glimmer carried. "I mean, it's not that big a deal –"

"Shush!" Glimmer said. One of the balloons slipped out of her grasp; Bow grabbed it before it could drift off into the sky. "We're the ones planning the party, not you!"

"But it's my birthday, right?"

"She has a point, Glimmer," Bow said, tying the balloon to one of the chairs. The table they had set up outside was small, but they had unanimously decided that Adora's first real birthday party would be limited to the three of them. "We shouldn't go overboard."

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess. Still! It's her first real birthday party, it should be special!"

"What's special is that I'm having it," Adora said with a smile. "Really, anything would be fine."

"You're not getting just anything, you're getting something amazing." Glimmer finished tying the balloons and straightened up with a grin. "Let's start!"

Adora sat at the head of the table, her face slowly turning red as Glimmer sang Happy Birthday. The cake was perhaps too big for three people, but Bow didn't specify what size, and Princess Entrapta's bakery team jumped at the chance to make something larger than usual. He shrugged it off.

"So we'll have leftovers," he said in response to Adora's incredulous expression. "What piece do you want?"

Once they made a dent in the cake, they moved the remainder aside to make room for presents. "Open mine first!" Glimmer said, pushing the box towards Adora. "I mean, I'm sure Bow's is great, but mine is really great!"

"Alright," Adora said, and she carefully peeled off the wrapping. "It's… a book? And a lot of paper."

"It's a scrapbooking kit!" Glimmer beamed at her. "Do you like it?"

"It's nice, but I've never, uh, heard of a… scrapbook before. What is it?"

"It's a place where you keep track of memories and important events. Like…" Glimmer looked down for a moment, her cheeks flushed. "You were in the Horde for your whole life, so you have a lot of memories attached to it… so I wanted you to have a way to keep track of the memories you're making with us. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Adora said. "That's, uh, this is really…"

She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Glimmer jumped to her feet. "Are you crying?" she said in alarm. "Oh no, did I get the wrong thing? I'm sorry, Adora!"

"No, no, I'm happy!" Adora smiled through her tears. "I love it, really. I don't know why I'm crying, I just…"

She contorted her face in an effort to keep more tears from falling. It didn't work.

Both Bow and Glimmer hugged her. "here," Bow said, handing her a tissue.

Adora blew her nose. "Is this your gift?" she asked, cracking a smile.

"What? Oh, no, no –" Bow laughed. "I got you a real gift, don't worry. Though I'm starting to worry it won't hold up to what Glimmer got you…"

He handed over the box. "Oh, cool," Adora said once she had opened it. "It's a camera, right?"

Bow nodded. "Yep! Dunno if you're into photography, but I figured it'd be fun to try out, right?"

Adora smiled. "Thank you," she said. "This was a great birthday. Thank you for everything."

4.

"How many people did Sea Hawk invite?" Bow said, looking around. "Did he rent out a room in the bar for this?"

"Do bars have rooms?" Adora said, staying close to Bow and Glimmer amidst the crowd of people. "I mean, rooms you can rent for parties?"

Glimmer shrugged. "This one sure does."

"Ahoy!" Sea Hawk appeared seemingly out of nowhere and threw his arm over Bow's shoulders. "Glad you could make it, my friend!"

"Friends," Glimmer corrected. "Plural. Adora and I are also here."

"And well met!" Sea Hawk laughed. "Princess Mermista, did you see who arrived?"

Mermista spotted them from the group she was lingering by. "Oh, hey," she said, walking over. "Thanks for the birthday gift, Glimmer. Didn't send a thank you card because I don't have time for that, but it was nice."

"Oh!" Glimmer flushed. "Uh, thanks! I'm glad you liked it."

Sea Hawk's eyes landed on the parcel in Bow's arms. "Is that a gift I see?"

"Yep!" Bow grinned. "We all pitched in for it!"

"Sorry if you were expecting three presents," said Adora. Glimmer elbowed her in the side.

"Don't worry about it," Sea Hawk said with a chuckle. "The most important part of birthdays is celebrating them with your friends and loved ones! Isn't that right, Mermista?"

Mermista walked away.

"Well, I'll take that anyhow."

They spend the rest of the night mingling with the guests and singing sea shanties; eventually, it's late enough that Adora, Bow, and Glimmer can excuse themselves without being rude. It's only when they're halfway home that Bow realizes Sea Hawk never opened his gift.

"It's alright," Glimmer says when he complains about it. "I'm sure he'll love it! Maybe he'll even write a thank you note!"

Sure enough, the next week, Bow got a note from Sea Hawk, thanking him for the exotic blend of coffees. Bow breathed a sigh of relief; he was worried Sea Hawk was more of a tea person.

5.

When Bow walked into the room, a balloon hit him in the face. Adora's "Oh no!" mixed with the others' cries of "Surprise!"

Bow pushed the balloon away and looked around. Adora and Glimmer were here, but so were Perfuma, Sea Hawk, Entrapta… "What's going on?" he asked.

Glimmer laughed. "It's your birthday, silly!" she said. "Did you forget your own birthday?"

"I knew it was my birthday!" Bow protested. "I just – you know me, I work so hard keeping track of everyone else's birthdays… I didn't really plan my own."

Perfuma giggled and waved her hand, summoning a ring of flowers to rest on his head. "That's a good thing!' she said. "Leave it to us to do the planning!"

"Which we already did," Entrapta commented. "Well, Adora and Glimmer did. I was just invited."

"I brought snacks!" Sea Hawk gestured to a table covered in food.

"So come on!" Glimmer teleported to Bow's side and tugged him forward. "We've got snacks, we've got music, we've got party games – oh! I can't wait for gifts, I got you something you're gonna love…"

Bow grinned and let Glimmer lead him to the center of the room. "Thanks, guys," he said. "I'm sure this will be the best birthday yet!"

"That just means we'll have to work even harder next year," Adora said. "That's how it works, right? Every year you get a bigger and bigger party?"

The party took up most of the day, and yet, it seemed to be over too soon. As they waved goodbye to Sea Hawk, Bow was overcome with a sudden rush and he threw his arms around Adora and Glimmer, pulling them close.

"I love you guys, you know that?" he said. "I mean, you're the best friends ever!"

"Love you too, Bow!" Glimmer said, unable to keep the grin off her face. "Happy birthday!"

Adora grinned and hugged him back. "I think I'm getting the hang of this birthday thing!" she said. "Who's next?"

**THE END**


End file.
